Ties That Bind
by Stefani140
Summary: Sequel to Family Ties. Suggest that you read that one first before continuing.
1. Chapter 1

Ties that Bind

Author's Note: This is the sequel to Family Ties. I suggest reading that fic first, before starting on this one. Ask me for the link, and I'll gladly go find it for you. Much love to all of you for reading!!

Chapter 1

The road stretched into the distance, fields running along either side. Not a single light, or other evidence of life, could be seen for as far as the eye could see. Delia stood next to her bright red Jeep Liberty, she was exhausted. She'd been driving for hours, she needed a good stretch. Her gaze slid down to her watch, it was nearly four in the morning. A sudden vibration from the direction of her hip sent her jumping. No she wasn't paranoid!! She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her phone. Sighing she flipped it open and put the phone to her ear, "Yeah."

A high pitched, demanding female voice responded, "Is this Delia?"

Delia had caught the French accent as the woman spoke. Who in the world could this be? She certainly didn't recognize the woman's voice. "Maybe, it depends on how you got this number."

The woman spoke again, her voice adopting a slightly amused tone, "Ah, of course, you are suspicious. You have no reason to trust me; you do not know me after all. Your dear friend Tony gave me the number, he said you might be able to help me."

Delia snorted with laughter, "I'd hardly call Tony a dear friend. A mentor maybe, but definitely now a friend. All right then, first, what's your name? Second, what kind of help do you need?"

"My name is Meredith. I have a slight problem with a man I am acquainted with. I need him, um, taken care of."

Delia's suspicions were immediately raised, it could be a setup, she had better toe the line here. "Well, unfortunately Merry, it seems that you've been misinformed. I don't engage in illegal activity, that includes assassinations."

The woman sounded a little defensive when she proceeded. "My name is Meredith, not Merry. And Tony anticipated this little complication. He said to inform you that Curtis had given authorization for this job. I was also to assure you that this man is not human, he is a vampire."

She pondered for a moment, if this was a setup she couldn't tell. This woman had the right information too. The code was Tony's idea, he was always a little too cautious. Because there was no Curtis, and no one gave her permission for a damn thing. "Ok then, I just finished another job, so I have some time. I assumer that I'll be getting paid." She made it a statement rather than a question.

Meredith giggled, "But of course. You will be paid most handsomely."

Satisfied, Delia leaned back into the car for a pen and paper. "Let me take down your information. I'll need to make an appointment to meet with you. I'll get the rest of the details then. The two women chatted for a few more minutes. When Delia hung up, she had an address and a meeting with Meredith for the following night. Sighing, she tousled her curly dark hair and slid back into the driver's seat. It was nearly dawn, she should be sleeping. But she had almost 600 miles to get to Arizona, and only until sundown to do it. Besides, no reason to give the Winchesters more time to catch her. What was it Tony always said? No rest for the weary or the undead. She grinned to herself and pulled the car back onto the road.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Nearly a whole state away, a black Impala pulled into a gas station. Three men climbed out of the car, and stretched. It was just after dawn. Sam looked around, skeptically, "You really think she stopped here?"

Dean yawned, arms stretched to the sky. "She had to stop here. This has been the only gas station for hours. Hell, it's been the only building for hours."

John walked toward the station door. "Only one way to find out." He disappeared inside. Sam and Dean could see him through the window, conversing with the man behind the counter. A minute or so later John reappeared at the door. :The cashier remembers her stopping in. He said that she was here around midnight last night. He says she filled up the car, bought some coffee, and headed south."

Dean grumbled, "That means we're about six hours behind her then. God…..damn it……can we catch a break here? I'm getting tired of always being one gas station or restaurant too late. I say that we find her, hit her over the head, tie her up, toss her in the trunk, and go on a proper hunt for once."

Sam looked puzzled, "I thought that you wanted to find her as much as we do."

"I do. But I'm also not expecting her to greet us in a shower of kisses and hugs Sam. She's gonna be pissed off, and probably kick our butts. Kidnapping her would be much easier than forcing her to listen to reason." John smiled and shook his head. These two would never cease to bicker like schoolchildren. Maybe they needed their little sister to beat some sense into them.

Sam tried to not respond to his brother's bad mood, refused to take his bait. After a minute, he shook his head, "Let's just go. She has to sleep eventually; we can make up some time then. And we're just getting farther behind by standing here arguing."

Dean nodded and climbed back behind the steering wheel. He reached for the stereo and turned up the music that Sam affectionately called 'mullet rock.' All three of them were quiet as they sped down the road, passing nothing but empty fields. They'd been tracking Delia for over a month, and she was proving to be very elusive and good at covering her tracks. Whether that was merely out of habit, or because she knew she was being followed, they couldn't be sure. Dean appeared to be thinking very hard about something. After a moment he turned and looked at John, "I've been trying to figure this. Why did she suddenly turn south? She's been headed west ever since that job she did in Oklahoma. Is she just trying to give us the slip?"

John shrugged, "I've been wondering the same thing. I suppose that she could be trying to get us off her trail. Or, more likely, she could have taken another job."

Dean smirked and mumbled under his breath, "Sounds like a good idea, maybe we should try it sometime." His brother and father looked at each other, smiled and shrugged. They knew that Dean was starting to get impatient, and that was making him very unpleasant. But they had all agreed to go after her, so he would just have to deal with it.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Darkness had nearly fallen as Delia pulled into town. She was very well rested, having given in and taken a nap earlier that day, but she was still running a little ahead of schedule. Delia sighed, and decided to grab a bite to eat, she had about an hour to kill before she had to meet with Meredith. The Winchesters were still hot on her trail, she was sure of it. She wanted to avoid them, at least until this job was over, and this cheerful little diner seemed like a good place to do just that.

Parking across the street, she threw the car into park. Reaching across the seat she rummages through her bag. Who would she pretend to be tonight? After a minute she grabbed a credit card and license for Betty Willis, that was a good honest name, and climbed out of her car. A bell tinkled as she walked through the door and grabbed a seat. Delia browed the menu for a few minutes, and looked up as her waitress arrived. The nametag read Sally, and Sally was a short, slightly plump woman, "What can I get ya sweetie?" She was far too perky for her own good. Scowling at her, Delia settled with just coffee.

Somewhere in the middle of her second cup, she heard the jingle of the bell again; instinctively she reached for her shoulder holster and stroked her gun lovingly. Sally exclaimed, "Evenin' gentlemen. Feel free to take any table, I'll be with you in a few." Sighing, Delia went back to her coffee. Before long, she got the feeling that she was being watched. She reached into her jacket again, putting her finger on the trigger and looked up to find the Winchesters standing there staring at her. So much for her plans of avoiding them. All grinning broadly, they sat down. Sam took the seat next to her; John and Dean sat across the table.

She rolled her eyes, "No please, I insist, sit down." She took a sip of coffee and set the cup down, a little harder than she had intended. Coffee slopped over the table, and she reached for a napkin, cursing. "Damn it! Can't you guys take a hint? I've been trying to get you off my ass for weeks."

Dean smiled, "Did you really think we'd let you get away that easily?"

She scowled furiously, she might just shoot them yet. "What the hell do you want with me anyway?"

Sam leaned forward a little, resting his elbows on the edge of the table, looking at her. "We don't want you to just run away….again. I promise that we're not expecting anything of you. We just want…"

Delia interrupted him, "You just want to be one big, happy, hunting family. Is that it?"

Sam sputtered, and Dean laughed and answered her. "Yeah, that about sums it up." He leaned closer to her, smiling. "Personally, I wanted to hit you over the head and toss you in the trunk of my car. And then worry about the whole family bonding thing later."

She gave him an evil grin. "Good thing you guy didn't go with that dumbass plan. Cause I'd have killed all three of you for trying." She looked at her watch. "S--- I've got to go. Listen, I'm sick and tired of you following me. I have a meeting with a client right now. But if it'll make you happy, I'll talk to you after that. Ok?"

John raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Seriously? You give in that easily? You'll actually talk to us about working together?"

She nodded. "Like I said, I'm tired of being followed. I'm not going to promise you a damn thing, but we can talk about it." She pulled a pen from her bag and scribbled something on a napkin. "That's the address and room number of the hotel I'm staying at. Meet me there first thing in the morning." Delia tossed the napkin at Dean. She turned and left the restaurant. Checking her watch again, she cursed as she realized that she was going to be late. Dang those guys, great first impression for her client.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Watching his sister storm out of the restaurant, Dean furrowed his brow. "Ok that was too simple. I was expecting a far more violent reaction. What do you think she's up to now?"

John tore his gaze from the door. "If I had to put money on it, I'd say that the violent part will start later."

Dean grimaced a little. "Well that should be loads of fun." He glanced at the menu. "We might as well eat something. It would appear that we have all night, and nothing to do."

Sam spoke up, "What kind of job could she be taking? It's really late, well after dark. What kind of client wants to meet at this hour?"

His brother looked at him, "I thought you were supposedly the smart one. It could be a vampire."

Sam shook his head, "But, if she's one of the so called good guys, she wouldn't take a vamp as a client right?"

Rolling his eyes, Dean responded, "Dude, she's an assassin! Who the hell knows what side she's on? Probably the side that's paying her the best." John didn't really want to get involved in his sons' most recent spat, but he thought that Dean made a good point. They really didn't know what side she was on. But then again, is life were strictly divided into only good guys and bad guys, their job would be a lot easier. The three men finished their dinner and trooped back out to the car. It was time to find a motel for the night, since they couldn't meet with Delia until morning.

Dean pulled the Impala into the parking lot of the nearest hotel he could find. The only light came from the sign announcing a vacancy. They piled out of the car, exhausted, and breathed in the night air. A movement from the bushes startled them; all three pulled various guns out of their jackets, pointing them at the darkness.

A melodious laughed filled the air, and someone stepped from the shadows. The man stood taller than all of the Winchester man, and he was lean and muscular. His waist length blond hair looked like it was woven with pure gold. His eyes contained at least three shades of blue; a deep sapphire near the pupil, lessening to a cool blue that was the color of ice near the rim. "Don't worry hunters. You can lower your weapons, I mean you no harm."

John smirked, "Lower our weapons. Not gonna happen. Now, what do you want Mr…."

The man sighed, "I doubt that my name is important to the situation, but you may call me Richard." His voice was entrancing; it seemed to hold the very night captive. "I was sent to inquire about your intentions with Ms. Michaels?" Richard seemed to be behaving very warily. He was standing perfectly still, hands held out slightly from his sides.

Sam looked at the man down the barrel of his gun. "Who?"

Richard sighed heavily again, slight anger coming through in his tone. "Ms. Delia Michaels." The wind rustled around them, moving with a sense of great power. As Richard spoke again, his voice danced across their ears, making them gasp with that tiny brush of his potential energy. "You are following her, and I want to know why?"

Dean scoffed, "There isn't a chance in hell that we're telling you that. And what are you exactly? Cause you damn sure aren't human."

The wind rustled with Richard's anger. Dean blinked and the other man was behind him, Dean whipped around. He looked into Richard's face and found that his eyes had gone pure black. Startled, he fired his gun, one shot straight to the chest. Richard was knocked back a step and looked down at the blood blossoming onto his light blue shirt. In another blink, Richard was back where he started, on the edge of the darkness. He opened the front of his shirt, exposing the wound. Even as they watched, the flow of blood slowed and then stopped completely. They could see the skin start to knit itself back together. The Winchesters were too stunned to do anything but stand there and stare.

Richard's voice bristled with rage, his tone containing an ethereal and decidedly inhuman quality. "How dare you! I am the Bringer of Death. You cannot harm me that easily. My mast is Death himself. And you should be thanking God on bended knee that I have explicit instructions not to hurt you. Otherwise, I would kill you all, slowly and painfully."

Dean snorted. 'The bringer of death? Dude, are you seriously that deluded?" He mockingly extended his hand in Richard's direction, "Well bringer of death, I'm Dean the Destroyer." With that, he dissolved into sidesplitting laughter.

Richard was not amused. "I'll give you fair warning. Stay away from Delia Michaels! If you don't, you'll all end up dead." There was another rustle of wind and Richard was gone.

Thankful that the danger seemed to have passed, they quickly checked into the hotel and retired to their room. Sam started laying down lines of salt at the door and windows. Dean looked over, "Paranoid much Sam?"

Sam looked over his work, nodding approvingly. "You're not paranoid enough Dean. He could have killed us all. What the hell was he anyway?"

John sat down on a bed, "My first guess would be a vampire, maybe a werewolf."

Dean looked skeptical. "But those were silver bullets I had. If he was either of those, he never could have healed so quickly."

John rubbed his temples with his hands. "It would seem unlikely. But I've heard of master vamps and werewolves who can heal silver wounds, like they were nothing. Damned if I've ever seen one that powerful though." The three men drifted to sleep, very uncertain of their safety. If Richard, whatever he was, could heal silver wounds in twenty seconds, would the salt really do that much good? They could only hope so..


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Delia looked down at her pad of paper, and glanced at the street numbers. She rounded a bend and a gate loomed in the darkness, standing at least nine feet tall. An enormous Victorian style mansion stood at the end of the sweeping drive. This was a very nice place for someone who had a vampire problem; maybe she should have asked more questions about Meredith. She had tried to reach Tony and ask about what kind of person she was meeting with, but he never seemed to answer his phone anymore. And there was no was in hell that she was leaving a message for a callback, because he insisted on calling back at all hours of the night. She pulled up next to a speaker, in front of the gate and rolled her window down. Pressing the 'contact' button, she sat back and admired the elegant house in front of her. A male voice came over the speaker, "What can I do for you ma'am?"

"This is Delia Michaels. I have an appointment with Meredith."

"Of course, Ms. Michaels. We've been expecting you." A buzz sounded and the gate swung open. Delia turned her car onto the driveway and gaped as the house grew even larger by the minute. She parked her car, and walked up to the front door. It opened to meet her, and a tall thin man with dark features stood before her. When he spoke, she recognized his voice from the speaker moments earlier. "Welcome Ms. Michaels. You're a little late; But Ms. Phillips has been waiting for you." Delia followed him down the hall, trying to match his steps. When they arrived at the end of the hallway he turned to the left, and opened the door, motioning for her to enter. She did, the giant room was decorated in a black and red Gothic motif. It seemed a little out of place in such an elegant home, but maybe the outside was more of a show room, hiding what was actually going on inside.

A pale, green eyed woman sat in the middle of the room, her vibrantly red hair shone in the low light. She was dressed in all black and is she hadn't been so pals, she would have perfectly blended into the room. "Delia Michaels. Welcome to my home. I am Meredith Phillips. Please sit down." Delia hadn't even the noticed the chair standing empty behind her, if she didn't know better she would have sworn that it hadn't been there two seconds ago.

Delia sat down, pulling her pen and paper from her bad. "So exactly what can I do for you? You mentioned that you need a vampire killed for you."

"Yes, unfortunately, he has become most troublesome. We used to date you see, we were even betrothed for a brief while. His name is Paulo."

"Paulo. Any last name?"

"Je ne sais pas." When Delia looked confused, she blushed a little. "Oh I am sorry, my French. I sometimes forget. I do not know, he never told me his last name."

Delia jotted it down, "Any idea of how old he was? I mean, a hundred years, several hundred?"

"Is that important?"

"Extremely. It should give me an idea of how powerful he is. Some of the more powerful vamps are immune to most things that would kill a younger vamp. So it could be very helpful."

"Well, I do not know for sure. But he used to talk about how wonderful France used to be in the sixteenth century."

Delia pondered for a moment and wrote that down too. "Well, it that was when he was made, that would make him a little over three hundred years old. So this should be pretty routine. Can I ask why you need to have him killed?"

The butler returned now with a tray of tea. He set it down and fixed Meredith's for her. She motioned to the tray, "Help yourself Ms. Michaels. Nothing else is working; he refuses to leave me alone. I have told him that it is over, but he will not accept that. He shows up in my bedroom in the middle of the night. He follows me almost all the time, at least during the night. Then last week, when he threatened to turn me, to bind me to him that way; I became very frightened. I called Tony, an old family friend, and he suggested that I call you. I do not see any alternative, killing him is my only way out of this."

Taking more notes, Delia nodded sympathetically. Really, she didn't understand this woman at all. Dating a vampire? Who was she kidding? Vamps are predators, they don't have meaningful relationships. "Well, that explains several things. You see vamps mate for life, which for them is a really long time. He sees you rejecting him as a personal insult to his power. He can't understand it, and wants to find a way to bind you to him. So, where can I find him?"

"Um, he has a house over on Preston Street. The number is 718, I believe. I have no idea if that is where he sleeps, but it is the only place I know to look for him."

"Well, it's a good place to start at least. Just so you're aware, I take half of my fee now. Paulo should be dead, again, within a few days. Then I'll return with one of his possessions. Just so you can be sure that the job is done, and then I take the rest of the fee. And hopefully, after that, we never have to speak again. But, of course, if you ever need me again, you know the number."

"Of course. And thank you so much for your assistance Ms. Michaels. My butler will give you the money. I assumed that you prefer cash, so that is what I have for you. I look forward to hearing from you." Meredith stood, it was a very elegant gesture, and walked Delia to the door. She walked with the butler back to the front door and he stopped.

He held out a briefcase to her, "Here you are ma'am. Seven thousand dollars, in cash. Can I assist you with anything else?"

"No, no that should be fine. Thank you." She walked back to her car and threw the briefcase in the backseat. She would count it back at her hotel; make sure she hadn't been duped. Looking at the sky, she saw that is was nearly dawn. Damn, now she had another meeting. These Winchesters were determined, she had to give them that much. She pulled onto the street, the gate opening for her automatically. Delia had no idea what they wanted with her; couldn't they just leave her in peace? The younger of the brother, Sam she thought his name was, had mentioned something about working together. That could complicate her life unnecessarily. They were consummate 'good guys'; they might have a problem with some of the jobs she took. And if they were the usual hunter type, they didn't expect to get paid for their work. Real do-gooders, just what she didn't need.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Delia's car was sitting in the parking lot of the hotel when the Winchesters arrive. Dean sarcastically remarked, "Damn, how can she afford this place? We never stay in places this nice."

Sam smiled and admired the building, it was very elegant. "Dude, she actually gets paid for the work that she does. We don't that's why we initiate credit card fraud, remember?"

'Trust me, I remember. Maybe we should start demanding payment out of the people we save."

John smiled and started walking toward the door of the building. He could just imagine, walking up to someone who was lucky to be alive and demanding payment for services rendered. It was laughable, but exactly the kind of suggestion that Dean would make. And speaking of Dean, he seemed to by in a much better mood this morning. His pissiness over the last few weeks had been getting very irritating. The deskman looked up as they walked in, "Yes gentlemen. How can I help you?"

John stepped forward, "We're here to see Delia Michaels in room…" he looked at the napkin and smiled. "Room number 666." Dean snorted a little from behind him, it seemed fitting enough.

The deskman looked at Dean with disdain and replied, "Yes, Ms. Michaels, she requested that room specifically. And I understand that she is expecting you, go ahead." He watched as the three men walked toward the elevators, yes he knew Delia. She was a regular guest, and always requested the same room when she was in town, very strange woman she was. And now she had three strange men visiting her just after dawn. He shook his head, very untoward woman indeed.

The elevator dinged as it reached the sixth floor, the Winchesters walked out. They strode down the hallway, and found room number 666. They knocked and a moment later Delia answered. She moved aside for them to come in, and motioned toward the table. The sat down and looked around.

Dean grinned, "Nice digs."

Delia looked at him, "Thanks, I guess. I try to support myself in comfort. So what do you guys want?" She was tired, and had no interest in small talk.

Looking very serious, John spoke. "First, we think you might be in trouble. What kind of job are you working right now?"

"Why would you think I was in danger?" She looked very confuse. "I'm helping a woman exterminate a problem vamp, very routine. Why?"

John briefly explained what had taken place in the parking lot the previous evening. He explained about what Richard has said and how he had behaved. When he was finished he looked up at her, "I think this might be some kind of setup. Is there anyone who would want you dead?"

She laughed, though her voice held no humor. 'Plenty of people, I'm sure. Sounds like he was a master vampire, you're all lucky to be alive. It doesn't change anything; I have a job to do. And a well paying one at that." Delia sighed. "But this does reinforce what I was saying earlier, that you need to leave me alone. Obviously this job it putting you guys in danger, you really should leave."

Sam looked anxious when he responded. "Yeah, we can't do that. If this is a setup, we'd be sending you to the slaughter. Please, let us help you on this. Please, I'm begging you; don't get yourself killed just to spite us." He looked at his brother and father in despair, almost begins for some support.

Dean nodded in agreement. "I have to agree with Sam on this. You might not end up needing you help, but you just might need some backup is this is a setup."

Cursing, Delia stood. This was not what she needed. They made a valid point, this was probably a setup. Going in alone would be really stupid, but bringing them might give these guys a false impression of a partnership down the road. She started pacing the room, is Paulo was a master too she would need some help. John opened his mouth to speak, and Delia waved her hand at him and shushed him. And if someone were trying to kill her, she would really need some backup. She couldn't see a way out of this, she needed them right now. Finally, she stopped pacing and looked at them. "Ok fine. I've reasoned it all out in my head, and you're right. I might need some backup on this one. What do you guys suggest?"

John sighed heavily, and his sons looked immensely relieved. "Well, do you know where this vamp sleeps during the day?"

"Maybe, he has a house, but I don't know if he sleeps there during daylight. I was planning on going after him tonight."

"Why during the night? Daytime is much easier."

"Yeah, but I also don't wanna go stake some poor innocent guy who's sleeping in that house. And then go….oops…he wasn't a vamp. If he's awake, I'll be able to sense his power, so I'll know for sure. He'll be harder to take down that way, but I won't risk harming an innocent person. And is someone is setting me up, they'd fully expect me to go after him during the day."

"Ok, good reasoning I suppose. So, I'd suggest then then. You go in and find the vampire. We'll stay outside and watch the house's perimeter. Make sure that no one can sneak up on you. Then we're not too in the way, but we can still help. Sound acceptable?"

Delia thought for a moment or two, reasoning it out. "Hmmm…sounds like the best plan we've got. Alright then it's a plan." She wrote down another address on the hotel pad of paper and handed it to John. "That's the address I've got, meet me there at dusk. For now, I'm going to bed. I haven't slept in over 24 hours and I'm dead tired. I'll be useless tonight if I don't rest a little."

Dean nodded, "Sure, we'll go. You swear that you're not trying to give us the slip?" He was still suspicious of her sudden cooperativeness.

She lifted a hand, three fingers held together. "Scouts' honor." Dean nodded, and the three men walked to the door. She let them out and turned around, leaning against the door. This was extremely frustrating. Why was all of this coming up now? She screamed as loud as she could and stormed back to the bed. She threw herself down on it, and put her head in her hands. Reaching for the bedside table, she grabbed the lamp and threw it furiously against the wall. It shattered and she collapsed on the bed, sobbing uncontrollably. Within seconds the phone next to the bed rang, she wiped her eyes and answered, "What?"

"Ms. Michaels, it's the concierge. Is everything alright? Some of the other guests heard a commotion."

"Yes, everything is fine. I just stubbed my toe on the bedside table and knocked the lamp over. Don't worry I'll pay for the damage."

"Alright then Ms. Michaels. And don't worry about the cost, we'll cover it. I'll send a maid to clean up the mess, and I'll have her bring some ice for your toe."

"That's fine, thank you. I'm getting in the shower, so ask the maid not to bother me." She hung up and fled to the bathroom. She turned on the water and stripped down. She climbed in the shower, and let the steaming water beat down on her. Delia dissolved into tears again. She had no idea what was happening to her. All of these abandonment issues were behind her; at least she had thought they were. Now, her dad and brothers show up, and she was an emotional wreak. A faint knock sounded through the room and the maid entered. A few minutes later the door opened and closed again, and Delia knew she was alone. She slid down the wall and sat in the shower; crying until the hot water had run out. Then she cried some more, sitting there naked and shivering in the cold. Finally pulling herself together, she stepped out of the shower and wrapped herself in a hotel robe. Not bothering with anything else she lay down on the bed, and fell right to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Night had fallen again as Delia pulled up to the house on Preston Street. It was a modest sized rambler, but looked well kept and elegant. A few lights were on, but she couldn't see any movement. She waited for her the Winchesters to arrive, leaning on the hood of her car, watching the house intently. Something flickered in one of the windows, could it be movement? She leaper for her binoculars and shoved them to her eyes. After they were focused she stared at the window in question, she could now see a shadow moving around inside. Apparently, someone was home. Whether it was her vampire or a human, she had no idea. Suddenly, a blinding light appeared in her field of vision and the shadow inside disappeared. She peeled the binoculars off her eyes, and looked to the right. She was a black Impala approaching; well at least they were punctual. The men stepped out of the car and she scowled a little, "Geez, you certainly didn't sneak up on them did you! You could have at least turned the headlights off."

Dean adopted a surprised and innocent look, "But when how would I have been able to drive? It's dark outside."

She smirked at him, "Let's go. Remember, you guys are watching this entrance." She reached through the open passenger side window and grabbed a shoulder holster, a thigh holster, and a pair of wrist sheaths. She proceeded to the back of the car, hit the button on the side of the trunk, and a door opened revealing an array of weapons. Most of them looked brand new, and obviously well maintained. She grabbed two pistols, checked that they were loaded and put them in place in the shoulder holster. Then she went for what looked like a mini-Uzi and strapped it to her thigh. Flipping two knives in the air and catching them she grinned, "Silver, gotta love it." And put the knives in the sheaths on her wrists. Delia pulled a long black trench coat on, and loaded a few extra clips and some holy water into the many pockets. For a finishing touch, she added a silver cross around her neck.

Dean stood there, staring, open mouthed. "God, think you have enough rounds?"

"I want to be prepared. Is he's a master vamp, I'm gonna need all these rounds. If not, better to be safe than sorry. Oh and I nearly forgot." She reached back into the trunk, and emerged with a machete the length of her arm and attached it to her hip. "Ok, now I'm ready."

John watched the whole process, wide-eyed. "Will any of that actually work besides the silver? I mean, I've always heard that holy objects don't really repel vampires. At least it's never worked for me."

She looked at him very seriously. "It all depends on the faith of the wearer. You actually have to believe for it to work. I'm a believer so the cross should repel most minor vamps. And the silver won't kill them, but it'll hurt like hell. And the Uzi, well, it'll just about shoot someone clean in half; so it's effective enough. Then just to be sure, the machete to take off the head." The men gulped, fully realizing what a dangerous person she really was. Shooting a person in half seemed a little extreme, but who were they to judge? Delia proceeded toward the house, as she neared the door she turned and whispered. "If I'm not back in an hour, come check on me. And save me if necessary." She quickly picked the lock on the front door and silently slipped inside, shutting it behind her.

Dean, Sam, and John all took their places around the front edge of the house; watching for any sign of movement. They were on edge and brandishing their guns at anything that moved; tree branches, squirrels, passing cars, birds, even each other. Time ticked by and still Delia had not returned. Checking his watch, John looked worried. He whispered to his boys, "It's been to long. I'm going to go check it out."

Dean ran toward him and put a hand on his shoulder. "No, she has ten more minutes. She asked us for an hour." Then, they heard a shrill scream from inside the house. They all turned, horrified. "Ok, never mind. Let's go!" They ran for the door, kicking it open and burst into the house, guns drawn.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Delia had walked into the house and immediately proceeded for the lighted window she saw earlier. She has one of the pistols out and was being very cautious. She didn't sense anyone's power yet, but they could be shielding from her. Dean had kind of screwed up her surprise attack. Walking up a flight of stairs, she saw a sliver of light under a closed door. She could hear muffled speaking from inside the room. Crap, there might be more than one. Steeling herself, she took a deep breath and kicked in the door. She entered the room, both pistols drawn now. As soon as she passed the doorway she was almost overcome with the vampire's power. There was at least one master in this room. One vamp stood in front of her, staring, slightly amused. He was a shorter man, Hispanic features, dark hair slicked back against his head. When he spoke, his voice danced along her ears and drew her in. "We've been expecting you Delia."

She shook her head to clear it. "You Paulo?" No sense in killing the wrong vamp.

"Indeed I am." Then he leaped for her and was on top of her in the blink of an eye. Both pistols went skittering along the floor, far out of her reach. Slightly stunned, she fumbled as she reached for the first knife on her wrist. Paulo sunk his fangs into her arm, and she cried out. She grabbed the knife and plunged it into his chest up to the hilt. He reared back, shrieking. He pulled the knife from his chest and flung it at her, the blade grazing her shoulder.

When Paulo didn't heal immediately, she scoffed, "Well, that helps. You're a minor vamp at best. This makes my job a lot easier." She pulled the machetes from her hip and stalked toward him. He tried to rush her again and she yanked the holy water from her pocket, spraying him right in the face. Howling, he stumbled backward. Taking advantage of his distraction, she swung the machete with all her might, and Paulo's head flew across the room. His body slumped to the floor, his head making a squelching noise when it hit the wall. She went to collect her knife from the floor, straightening immediately when she heard clapping behind her.

A blond haired, blue-eyes man stood in the room now. He was taller than her by at least a foot. He was dressed in Victorian style, and judging by the power he was emanating; this was the master. "Most impressive Ms. Michaels. Most impressive. We thought you would be much easier to subdue."

"Who the fuck are you?"

'I am the Bringer of Death." Delia rolled her eyes and scoffed. "And you, my dear, are my target." He shed the cloak he was wearing, and grinned, showing off his fangs. She threw the machete down; it wouldn't do much good against a vamp this powerful. Still feeling unstable from his power display, she fumbled for the Uzi. When she looked up with it leveled, the vampire was nowhere to be found. She whipped around frantically, and an arm slid around her neck, catching her off guard, the gun dropped back to her waist. She screamed as loudly as she could, bringing her elbow back into the vamp's stomach. He barely flinched and sunk fangs into her neck.

From the edge of her vision, she saw another man enter the room. "Enough Richard. We're not killing her here. She has reinforcements outside. Who, it appears are headed up here right now. Just disarm her for now." Richard removed his fangs from her throat, keeping the arm around her neck. He removed her weapons, but didn't check her wrist; she still had one knife.

Delia looked at the newest man and gasped, "Tony?! Oh my god….what the hell do you have to do with this?"

Tony looked at the door and it slammed shut under his gaze. She could head footsteps on the stairs. "Why, Delia, I'm surprised you recognized me. I'm here for you of course."

She came to a stunning realization, "You're a vampire. Since when?"

"Since I came to help you on that job last year. Remember? I told you to leave me behind, and save yourself. Well, I obviously kept in touch, so you assumed that everything was fine." Tony turned to the door, they could hear pounding and shouting on the other side. "But I was turned that night. And, now I'm going to kill you, my old student."

Delia was trying to keep him talking; it was the best way she could think of to stay alive. "But what do you have against me? You told me to leave, ordered me to leave you behind. This can't possible be about revenge."

"No, I suppose you're right, it's not. I know that you did what I always taught you to do. But you're intelligent Delia; you would have figured me out eventually. Let's call this a pre-emptive strike. I'm killing you before you can kill me. It's what you've always wanted right?" Tony whipped around as the door suddenly burst open; he had lost his focus and allowed the Winchesters access to the room.

They entered the room, guns drawn. Looking around frantically, trying to sort out the good guys from the bad. Delia shouted at Tony, "Yeah, that's what you think." She drew her second knife and thrust it backward and upwards, piercing Richard's heart. He was so shocked; he stumbled backwards, giving her enough time to draw the Uzi again. She fired at Richard, cutting him in half with the spray of bullets. As blood and things thicker than blood covered her, she realized that she was losing blood quickly; and needed a hospital soon. Tony shouted, and suddenly the room was swarming with vampires. At least twenty of them filed into the room from a side door. She could hear her dad and brothers, shouting and firing weapons. She stumbled backward, dizzy, and saw a few heads fall to the floor. Falling to the ground, her vision became blurry. Vaguely, she realized that someone was kicking her knife to the side.

Tony moved with the speed of lightning, right up to her face. He seemed to sniff that air around her and smiled, "Dear god." He winced, almost as if the name had caused him pain. "That's your father. I can smell the link you share with him. I have a better plan for you then, because I'm losing this fight." He turned to the other vampires and shouted, "Go for the oldest male. We're taking him hostage, leave the others disarmed."

The ten remaining vampires turned on John, he was sorely outnumbered. Dean and Sam tried to get to their father, but two of the vamps grabbed them by the throats and shoved them against the walls. All three of them were helpless to assist John now. He was still fighting valiantly, taking out vamps left and right. Then his gun clicked, he was out of rounds. Cursing, he threw the gun aside and the vampires jumped on him. Several of them sunk fangs into him; another hit him over the head. He slumped into unconsciousness. The vampires cheered triumphantly, and carried John from the room. The two vamps holding the brothers hostage, threw all their weapons across the room, bashed their heads to the wall, and fled. The three siblings were left alone in the room, bleeding and injured. All of them fighting to hold onto consciousness.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Sam woke with his head pounding; he clutched his hand to his neck and looked over the room frantically. Somewhere in the brawl, one of the vamps had decided to take a bite out of him, he was bleeding heavily. He looked to the left and saw Delia, bleeding from the neck and arm, unconscious. Look to the right he saw Dean, blood pouring down his neck from a wound on the back of his head. Sam hollered, "Dean! Dean, please answer me. Say something, anything so that I know you're alright. DEAN!"

From across the room, Dean moaned and lifted his head a little. When he spoke his voice was pained and hoarse, "Sam? They took dad Sam. We've got to get him back." He tried to sit up and groaned, slumping to the floor. Frantic, Sam got shakily to his feet, and replied. "Yeah we do. But first I'm getting you guys to the hospital. I'll be right back." He stumbled from the room, looking for a bathroom, or a linen closet. He needed something to suppress the bleeding for all of them. He fell through a doorway and luckily found himself in a bathroom, he grabbed several towels and tried to run back to the room. His vision was blurring and he shook his head, which only made him dizzier and he fell against the wall. Cursing, he forced himself to continue.

Once back in the room, he half knelt, half fell next to Dean. He bundled a towel in his brother's hand and put it to the wound on his head. He spoke, voice shaking. "Can you hold this towel on your own Dean?" Dean merely nodded, almost unnoticeably. Taking that for a yes, Sam tried to get to his feet and the room swam before him. He was forced to crawl across the floor to Delia, she was still unconscious. He shook her a little, "Delia, Delia can you hear me?" When she didn't respond, Sam started cursing again. He pressed a towel to her neck, and looked down at her arm. It was torn open from nearly the wrist to the elbow. Sam only had one towel left, and there was no way it was long enough to use as a tourniquet. He looked around and saw nothing helpful in the room. In desperation he grabbed his shirt and tore a strip from around the bottom edge. He wrapped it around Delia's upper arm, pulling it tight and knotting it. It certainly wasn't pretty, or perfect, but it would have to do. When he became dizzy again, he reached his hand to his own neck and found that it was still oozing blood down the front of his shirt. He has become so wrapped up in saving his brother and sister; he's forgotten his own injuries. He grabbed for the last towel, pressing it to his wound to slow the bleeding.

Sam leaned back against the wall, and considered his options. They were all in bad shape, and needed medical attention as soon as possible. He could call 911 from here, but it wasn't a very good idea to bring the authorities into this house. He looked around and saw blood everywhere, decapitated bodies, heads rolling around. That was not his first choice. Sam tested his strength again to see if he could get to his feet. Since his bleeding had slowed, he was feeling a little steadier than earlier. Making his choice he stood, shakily at first, and then he steadied himself a little against the wall. He leaned down and grabbed Delia. She groaned as he lifted her into his arms. He stumbled down the stairs; his sister cradled against him, wandered outside and gently put her in the backseat of the Impala. Straightening, his head pounded in pain, he touched his neck gingerly again and found that it had started bleeding more heavily again. "Damn." He exclaimed under his breath, pressing the towel to the wound a little harder.

When he felt stead again he walked back into the house for Dean. He shook his older brother as when he approached, "Dean, I'm trying to get you out of here. Just relax and don't fight me, or we'll never get out of this house." Dean didn't respond at all, that worried Sam even more. He placed his hand under his brother's arms and tried to lift him off the ground as much as possible. Half carrying, half dragging his brother out of the house Sam's head started to throb. When he reached the car he maneuvered Dean into the passenger seat. He walked around to the driver's side and climbed in. He knew he shouldn't be driving in this condition, but he didn't really have a choice. He pressed the towel into his neck and started the car. Taking a deep breath, Sam pulled away, headed for the hospital.

Passing headlights nearly blinded Sam as he pulled into the emergency room parking lot. He pulled into a space, and reached for the fake ids in the glove compartment. Better to be safe than sorry, he turned off the car and pulled himself out onto the pavement. He walked, falling several times, to the entrance of the ER. He walked through the door and collapsed onto the ground. Hollering, "Please, someone help me, please."

A female nurse rushed through a nearby door and knelt next to him. "Relax sir. It's okay; we've got you. You're all right." She tried to help him to his feet, but he turned and grabbed her by the shirt.

He looked her straight in the eyes, and frantically tried to explain, "My brother, my sister…."

"Are they injured too?"

Sam nodded, vision swimming. "In the car…..outside." He stumbled, falling into the nurse. He was fighting with everything he had not to pass out.

"Ok, we'll send someone out to get them. You're all in good hands." She motioned for two other nurses to go out to the parking lot and find Dean and Delia. Relieved Sam sighed, and gave up the fight. He slumped to the floor, slipping from the nurse's grasp, darkness surrounding him.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

John regained consciousness and saw nothing, except a small sliver of light right in front of him. He tried to move and found walls on all sides of him. His hands and feet were shackled. Obviously, someone wasn't taking any chances on him getting free. He shouted his voice hoarse "Is anyone out there? Someone answer me!"

He heard some soft muttering, at least two people, who were clearly ignoring his shouting. Instead of continuing, he took the opposite approach of trying to eavesdrop instead. He heard a shrill female voice, "Brady, no! We can't kill him; Tony is using him as bait. So you just stay away from that hunter."

A male, probably Brady, answered. "Bait? For who? The only people who are coming after him are those two male hunters, its suicide to hold him. Tony doesn't even know those two!"

"No, not for those two….the girl! She's his daughter. Tony is hopeful that she'll come to rescue him, and walk straight into the trap."

Brady sighed, "This is a moronic plan. Why does Tony want her dead anyway?"

"I dunno. Something about the student killing the teacher. Except that he's the teacher, she's the student who's trying to kill him." The car lurched to a stop, causing John to smack his head on the side of his box, he groaned his head throbbing. The woman continued, "Better take him to the holding area, and do not hurt him Brady. Tony will kill you, again, if you do."

Brady grumbled and a door slammed. John heard him walking around the side of the car and opening a back, or maybe side door. Suddenly his box was filled with light, blinding him instantly. Still grumbling, Brady smacked him over the head again. John slumped, unconscious. When he awoke again, he was in a caged area, but this time in a building. It was a miserable little place, cold and dark. He looked around for some way to escape, seeing nothing useful. He tested the one side, complete with iron bars and gate, kicking it with all of his might. It barely rattled, and the other walls were concrete, no way out there. John searched his pockets, hopeful that he had something to pick the lock on that gate. But it appeared as if they had searched him before placing him in his newest cage. Resigned to the fact that he was stuck, he slid down the wall to the floor.

Dawn came and went as John sat there, continuing to evaluate his options. He could always try a sneak attack. Pretend to be asleep, and when one of the vamps approached him, attack. But if they never came for him alone, that would be problematic. Or, they could have just left him here to die, and might never come back for him. He doubted that though. No vampire he'd ever heard of would leave behind a potential meal, and go hunting when they had dinner sitting around at home. No, more than likely they'd be coming for him, he just hoped for a chance to fight when they did. John dozed on and off throughout the day, it was best to try and sleep when his enemy would be sleeping. But since his surroundings were so harsh, he was having a hard time staying asleep for more than a few minutes at a time. As nightfall drew closer, he steeled himself for the return of his captors. He was very concerned about his children; he couldn't help but think the worst. The last he had seen of them, they all looked unconscious and were bleeding quite heavily. He prayed that, somehow, they had managed to get to a doctor.

Night fell, and he heard someone approaching, footsteps echoing down the hall. He readied himself for an attack, if the opportunity presented itself. A male vampire came into view, carrying a plate and a small cup. John didn't recognize him at first, but when he spoke he recognized Brady's harsh and commanding tone. "Eat hunter. You'll need to keep up your strength. The master's orders." He slid the cup and plate along the floor and through the bars.

John smirked, "Or, you could just kill me and get it over with already." He turned his head, ignoring the food that was before him. He was starving, but he wanted to entice the vamp into entering the cell where he sat.

"Whatever you like. Personally, I don't care if you starve. But just remember, the master isn't after you, not really at least. And you'll need your strength, especially if the master wants to make you his wife's pet." The vampire walked away, whistling a tune to himself. John continued trying to ignore the food that had been brought for him. Having a sudden thought, he reached for the plate. Damn, it was paper, as was the cup; no opportunity for a weapon here. As he sat there, food in front of him, he realized just how hungry he was. He hadn't eaten since the diner and that had been nearly two days ago. He couldn't think of any valid reason to ignore the sustenance that had been provided. Without considering his options any longer, he wolfed down the meager meal. Bread, water, and some type of vegetable that he couldn't really identify. As soon as his stomach was full, he began feeling sleepy again. John had forgotten about that, after any meal, he had a tendency to get tired. He tried to fight his growing sleepiness, but soon appeared to be losing the battle. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep again, seemingly unable to help himself.

When John awoke again, he found himself in yet another room. Cursing, he looked around. Of course, they had drugged the food, why hadn't he considered that? Maybe he had some type of head trauma, because he certainly wasn't thinking clearly the last few days. This room was well lit, large and circular. His arms were tied securely above his head, and he was suspended from the ceiling. He only saw one door, leading in or out. He struggled desperately, straining at his bonds. The rope cut into his wrists, small trickles of blood ran down his arms. Exhausted, he sagged a little, and felt a sharp and painful pull between his shoulders. Pulled one last time, he yelled out in pain, blood running in little rivers from his wrists. Still feeling slightly drowsy and weak from the drugs, he stopped struggling and hung there in complete silence. He needed a better plan.

A creaking sound brought John's head up to look at the door. A tall, lean, dark-haired man entered. Dressed casually in jeans, and what looked like a black mesh shirt. He smiled at John, "Ah, the great hunter. Not so big and scary now, are you?" John ignored the taunt, refusing to answer. Whoever this guy was, he was trying to bait him. The man continued, "Don't worry, my darling has some big plans for you while we wait for your daughter. Meredith, sweetheart!"

John looked at the door, and the pale red-haired, green-eyes Meredith entered. She walked up to him, circling him like a vulture around a carcass. Smiling broadly, she pulled John's head up lever, holding him by the hair. In her sultry French drawl she said, "Oh, he's been struggling. So cute!" She ran a finger along his arm, continuing to hold him by the hair. In a flash she backhanded him so hard that a resounding crack broke through the room. Blood dripped from his mouth; she had quite nearly broken his jaw. She pulled a long dagger from the folds of her robe, and played it lightly along his face, down his shoulders and chest. She hovered the blade around his stomach, and pressed it in until he jerked back in pain. She giggled and looked over her shoulder at the other vamp, "Oh, Tony, he is going to be fun. He's much tougher than I expected."

Tony moved toward Meredith, and embraced her. He kissed her gently and smiled. "Well, I know how much you love to inflict pain darling. Just be sure not to kill him yet, we want his daughter to find him alive. Barely, but alive nonetheless." She nodded silently, and Tony turned to leave the room. Meredith turned back to John, her eyes glinting in anticipation, giggling like a schoolgirl.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Sam awoke with a white light completely blinding him. He blinked rapidly to clear to adjust his eyes and looked around his hospital room. His memory was a little bit hazy, but he knew that he should be worried about something. He searched his brain, trying to remember. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks, he remembered everything that had happened the previous evening; or had he been out longer than that? He reached for the button to call the nurse and pressed it frantically. Immediately, a nurse bounced into the room, she looked at him, smiling broadly. "Good morning Mr. Adams! It's wonderful to see you awake." She walked up next to him and put a stethoscope to his chest. "How are you feeling?"

Sam just stared at her, Mr. Adams? "Um, I kind of feel like I got run over by a truck filled with elephants." Still wondering about the name, he thought for a moment, then vaguely recalled putting false ids' in everyone's pockets. He grinned a little, that had certainly thrown him for a loop. He turned to the nurse and continued, "But I'm very concerned about my brother and sister. Are they okay?"

The nurse's smile faded a bit. "Right, of course. They'll be okay, sir, but they're still in pretty bad shape right now. It was hit and miss with your sister for a while, but she pulled through. She's still unconscious however. Your brother woke up yesterday morning, and has been hollering to come see you ever since." Her grin returned. "The doctor told him that he had to stay in bed right now. But that we'll send a wheelchair around when you woke up."

Sam laughed a bit, and then hunched forward as pain rippled through his chest. 'That definitely sounds like Dean. I imagine he didn't take to the idea of the wheelchair too well."

She giggled, "No he certainly didn't. Said that if the doctor tried to get him in it, he'd bash him over the head with the wheelchair." She checked his temperature, and scribbled on her chart. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some other patients to see. Then I'll send your brother in."

Sam was beyond relieved that Delia and Dean were alright. At the time of the attack, he hadn't thought that either of them would make it. Last night, they had really looked bad. Damn, he needed to find out what day it was, he'd forgotten to ask in his haste to check on the other two. He heard a knock at the door, and looked up. Dean walked, or rather limped, in. Sam grinned, "I see the doctor didn't force you into the wheelchair."

Dean approached the bed and sat down in the chair beside it. "No, he was sufficiently scared by my threat. He didn't suggest it again. Now, seriously Sam, are you okay? You've had me worried."

"Well, I feel like hell, but I'll survive. What day is it?"

"It's Thursday. The, um, accident was three days ago."

Sam looked stunned, "Really? I was out for that long? God! I understand that Delia almost didn't make it."

Dean nodded gravely, "According to the doctor, they had to resuscitate her when we first got here. Then they almost lost her again last night. But they think she'll be okay at this point. They took her up for one last surgery right after I woke up."

Sam continued to look worried. "What are we going to do? We have to go find dad. But we can't exactly leave Delia here. I mean, that one vamp knew her, she might be our only hoping of finding him."

"Yeah, if dad's not already dead."

"Don't think I hadn't considered that, but we still have to try."

"I know we do. We'll see what the doctor has to say about Delia, and then we'll decide. But we might just have to wait for her to be released and hope for the best." Sam nodded, although he didn't particularly like the idea. The boys were much occupied for the rest of that morning. They attempted to talk about strategy and how to find the vamps; but doctors and nurses kept interrupting. Eventually, they gave up, and just sat in relative silence. At one point, a nurse suggested that Dean go back to his own room. Dean threw her a look so venomous that she immediately backed out of the room; they hadn't seen her since.

It seemed like days had passed before the doctor came rushing in the room, and exclaimed, "Your sister is conscious." Dean's face broke into a wide grin and he turned to Sam. Sam leaped out of his bed, and then fell against Dean wincing, "That might have been a bad idea." The doctor took Sam by the arm and gently led him to a wheelchair, "Take it easy son, you're more injured than I think you realize." Dean nudged the doctor out of his way, insisting on pushing Sam himself. Apparently, this was the same doctor that Dean had threatened earlier, because he just frowned and stepped aside, muttering "You'll regret this stubbornness when you can hardly walk tomorrow."

Entering Delia's room, the boys' jaws dropped. She was bandaged all over, neck, arms, leg. Her face was covered in purple and black bruises. One eye was nearly swollen shut; she tried to sit up and winced with the effort. Sam leaned over in his chair and took her hand in his. "How are you feeling?"

She tried to grin, but grimace again. "Probably about the same way I look. Which I assume is like hell." Dean's smirk was answer enough. "So when are we leaving?"

Dean sat down on the other side of her bed, leaning forward, his hands in a fist in front of him. "I don't think you're going anywhere, not any time soon at least."

"I want Tony's ass on a silver platter! I will be leaving just as soon as I can walk on my own. Where's John?"

Sam frowned, and Dean answered for him. 'Well, at least you're calling him by his name now, instead of a string of curses. So, that's an improvement." He furrowed his brow and swallowed hard before continuing, "The vamps took him."

She gasped and put a hand to her mouth. "They didn't kill him did they?"

Sam cleared his throat. "We don't think so. Tony said something about keeping him as bait. You really don't remember any of this?"

She pulled her hand away from him and folded her arms across her chest, shaking her head. "I really don't. And of course Tonty did that. It's exactly his style. Damn it! How did I not see this?"

Dean looked at her, "What? How could you have known? You haven't seen him since he was turned right?"

She shook her head again. "That's no excuse. I should have noticed that he was different. Like, always calling me in the middle of the night. And never wanting me to see him, because he knew that if we were in the same room I'd immediately sense the vamp powers." Delia looked disgusted. "I am so sorry. This is all my fault." Her lip quivered and she hung her head, crying silently.

Sam stroked her hair a bit. "No it isn't. We insisted on coming with you. This is not your fault." Dean nodded in agreement.

"Say whatever you like. It was still me fault. Look, we need to get out of here quickly. Otherwise, John might not be alive when we find him."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Tony was pacing in front of the call where John was being held. "Where's your family? Why haven't they come to rescue you?"

John gave a cocky grin. "Maybe because they can smell a trap from a mile away. My kids aren't stupid you know."

"Trust me; I know that about one of them better than you ever will." His voice was brimming with frustration, he wanted Delia, and soon. "Well, if they dawdle much longer we'll just kill you and leave your corpse for them to find."

"Then they'll slaughter you for sure." He then slumped down the wall. John was bruised from head to toe. He suspected that he had several broken ribs, and could hardly breathe at times. His wrists ached, dried blood covering his arms. He lifted his shirt gently, ignoring Tony's presence, to check on the gashed that covered his chest and stomach. Touching the edge of one gently, he inhaled sharply; it looked as if he weren't healing very well.

Tony walked away and down the hall, turning into the bedroom he shared with Meredith. Screaming with rage he threw his fist into the wall, and it crumbled underneath his hand. Meredith moved from her place on the bed and sidled up to him. She took his hand gently, and looked at the bleeding knuckles. Bringing his hand to her mouth, she gave a quick lick, and then pouted as the wounds closed. Her voice was low and raspy when she spoke, making her accent all the more noticeable. "Oh poo! What is the matter mon precieux?" She moved closer to him now, and began kissing his neck softly.

"I want her to come after me. Why isn't she coming to rescue her father?" He shoved Meredith away from him, and sat on the bed.

She folded her arms and looked cross. "If I did not know better, I would think that you had a crush on this girl."

Tony grinned, and reached for her hand. "You know that's ridiculous. But if I don't strike first, she will come after me. And if she attacks me, I probably won't be able to beat her." He pulled her down to his level, and held her face in his hands. He kissed her, caressing her lips with his own. When he pulled away, she swayed slightly and blushed. "Now, are you still angry with me?"

She smiled, "A little."

"Will torturing the hunter some more make you feel better?"

Her eyes brightened like a small child's on Christmas morning. "Really? Do you mean it?"

He nodded, "Of course my dear. I'll have Brady and Alec get him all set up for you." He walked toward the door to issue the order, stopped, and then turned around again. "But you must promise me that you won't kill him. At least not yet."

She pouted a little. "You always take the fun out of everything. But I promise I will not kill me….this time. At least not directly." She scampered out of the room, eager to go play with her new toy.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Shouting could be heard all through the intensive care unit, echoing off the walls. A doctor ran down the hall, followed closely by two nurses. They slid to a halt and walked in the room. Dean was standing at the end of his sister's bed, arms folded across his chest, and red in the face. Delia was standing next to her bed, hands in fists at her sides, eyes glinting with anger.

Delia puffed herself up, and took a deep breath. Then she shouted at her brother with all her might. "Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?"

He shouted right back, leaning forward a little. "I'm trying to keep you alive. So quit being such an idiot!"

"ME!! An idiot!! Oh that's rich. I am coming with you whether you like it or not." She took a step closer to him and took another breath. "You are not going to leave me here, it's been over a week, and I'm fine."

"You almost died a week ago. You're not going anywhere!"

The doctor looked around the room, and saw Delia's other brother sitting quietly in the corner of the room. He left the two to their shouting and went to inquire about what the problem was. Sam was watching his siblings fight like it was a tennis match, eyes moving from one to the other as they spoke. The doctor crouched down and looked at Sam, "What exactly is the argument here?

Sam reluctantly looked away from the fighting to look into the other man's face. "My sister wants to check herself out. My brother says no way that we're leaving without her. You wanna solve this one Dr. Bransen?"

The doctor rolled his eyes, "Guess I better intervene here." He stood and stepped between Delia and Dean, clearing his throat. "Please, people, can I offer a medical opinion here?" They looked at him, stunned. Then Delia motioned for him to continue. Sighing, he spoke again. "Mr. Adams, you are well enough to be checked out of here at any time. Now, on the other hand, Ms. Williams. You nearly died, you should not be going anywhere for quite a while yet.

Dean looked around Dr. Bransen at Delia and looked smug. She smirked at him, and adopted a sickly sweet tone before she spoke again. "But if I wanted to leave, I could check myself out. Isn't that correct?"

When Dean tried to speak, the doctor put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a warning look. "Yes, you could check yourself out against medical advice. But I must stress most firmly that you do not do that! You could cause yourself permanent damage! What could possibly be worth that risk?"

She tried for the sweet tone again, "It's family business. I will be checking myself out this afternoon. And, " she shot a look at Dean, "if my brothers try to ditch me, I'll be the one causing permanent damage." She smirked and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Sighing, Dr. Bransen spoke again, "Well, I guess there's nothing more I can do. I'll prepare the discharge papers." He started for the door, motioning the nurses out as well.

Dean strode quickly for the door, grabbing the doctor by the arm, and hollering again. "You can't let her do this."

Turning on Dean, yanking his arm from his grip, the other man's voice was angry and biting. 'There is nothing I can do. If she wants to leave, it is entirely her choice. And I would ask that you do not continue to shout in my hospital! Otherwise, I'll be forced to summon security." Dean folded his arms over his chest again, and huffed as he leaned against the wall.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

Dean stood next to Delia at the hospital's front desk. He had whined, griped, threatened, shouted; anything he could think of to dissuade Delia from leaving with them. He had insisted and was currently signing the discharge papers. In a flash, an idea hit him; he turned to her and said, "Well I can see when I'm beat. I'll go find Sam; he should have pulled the car around front by now." He grabbed her bag from between her feet. "I'll just take this out to the car then. See you outside." He walked out the front door, and she could see him looking around the parking lot.

She stood there in shock, mouth gaping slightly, at a loss for what to say or do. Since when was he so damned helpful? He'd done nothing but snipe at her about leaving, and now he was taking her things out to the car. Thinking for a moment longer, a thought struck her, aloud she said, "Well that slimy son of a bitch!" If he thinks he's getting away with that, then he's a bigger idiot than I thought." She rushed for the door, and ran into the middle of the parking lot. She saw the car coming toward her, toward the only exit. Through the window she could see Dean shouting at Sam and making wild hand gestures; Sam looked pensive for a moment and continued barreling toward her. She grinned; so it was going to be a game of chicken eh?! Delia stood her ground, glaring at the both of them. Finally, she heard the squeal of brakes as Sam stopped the car. Even with the windows up, she could hear Dean cursing her thoroughly.

He got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. "Damn it, damn it! You were supposed to be longer than that. We so would have gotten out of here without you." He opened the door for her, still cursing under his breath.

Once in the car she waited patiently for Dean to get back in, she grabbed her bag and whacked them both on the head with it. "That's for trying to leave me behind." She whacked Dean a second time, "And that's for trying to leave me here without me belongings." She winced a little and clutched at her side, moving that fast was still a little painful. "If that didn't hurt so badly, I would whoop your asses even worse."

Sam rubbed the back of his head, grinned and turned slightly to look at her in the rearview mirror. "Where exactly are we headed anyway? Do you know where we can find Tony?"

"Not exactly. He's always kind of kept to himself. But we do need to stop be my car first." Both boys perked up a little and nodded. "Don't even consider it. We're leaving my car there; I just want to grab some of my favorite weapons." They slumped again, and she giggled. They'd get used to this eventually. Maybe working with these two wouldn't be so bad after all. Oh god, what kind of thought was that? She had to be delirious, yes that was it, to even think about working with a team. She shook her head hard to clear it of these unsettling thoughts and laid her head back to hopefully catch a little nap.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Sam leaned through the back window and shook Delia awake. She mumbled something incoherent and, on instinct, swung her bag at him again. He'd have to remind himself to never startle her awake, he might get hurt. "We're here. At your car I mean. So grab your stuff and let's go."

Yawning, she sat up. "And go where exactly?" She pulled herself from the seat and took a moment to get solid footing. Delia walked to her car and opened the trunk. She smacked the hidden button on the side of the trunk and watched as the floor pulled back, revealing her stash of weaponry.

"We've been giving this a lot of thought actually, Dean and I. We think it might be wise to search this house, and the house where you met Meredith. They won't be here, more than likely, but they might have left behind a trace of where they were headed." He shrugged. "It's a good place to start at least."

She nodded in agreement. Reaching down into the trunk, she lifted a sawed off shotgun and caressed it lovingly. "Ahhhh….my baby. I missed you, I'm so sorry I had to leave you in that musty trunk for so long." She smiled broadly; it was good to have her babies back in her hands again. A duffle bag emerged from the trunk next, and she began placing guns and knives into it. Sam and Dean watched her with looks ranging from confusion to concern. She looked at them innocently, "What?! Can't I love the weapons that have saved my life so many times? Oh, I'll be wanting to get the knives and guns that got left in the house, they're some of my favorites." The trunk slammed shut, Delia checked the doors to make sure they were locked. Still grinning, she started walking up the drive, trusting that they'd follow.

Dean looked at Sam, before starting toward the house as well. "Dude, that was weird. She talks to her guns?! Psycho!" Sam laughed. Dean continued, "Think we could get away while she was in the house?"

"Are you nuts or suicidal? She'd eviscerate us if we left her, and she has her car back now. Do you really think she wouldn't find us? And frankly, I don't wanna get hit again; my head still hurts a little." They heard a scream from up the stairs. They raced to join Delia, and skidded to a halt in the room where they had almost died.

They found her standing in the middle of the room, looking sick. The vampires had, of course, turned to dust by this point. But the walls were still covered in blood, and bits of things thicker than blood. Several rats were scurrying out of the room. Delia bent down to pick up one of her knives. "I'm fine. A rat ran across my foot. But that is just disgusting! I totally did not need this today!" A rat ran across the floor, stopped and began licking at the blood on the walls. She visibly gasped and backed up immediately. "Oh god, I hate rats!" Delia rushed through the room, gathering the rest of her things and ran for the hall.

Dean looked at Sam with utter satisfaction. "Looks like I'm not the only one who has a problem with rats." He followed Delia out to the hall, calling over his shoulder. "Best start looking for something useful." Grumbling Sam looked around the room. Of course they had left him to do this room, sighing he walked around; looking for something that one of the vampires might have dropped. Finding nothing, and eager to get out of here, he opened the door to the escape route the vamps had used. Turning on his flashlight, he walked through the doorway and onto the downward spiraling stairs. The light moved back and forth as Sam slinked down the stairs. A beam of light flashed on something in the corner of a step, something white and crumpled. Sam bent and picked up the piece of paper, reading silently: _To find the master's home, travel to the Great Beehive. Look for the politician's estate, and continue up the hill. Six is the number that is where you'll find the key._


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

Dean furrowed his brow, looking at the note again. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" They were chatting about the mysterious note that Sam had found. Dean threw it down, and rubbed his temples in frustration.

Sam sighed, "Well, it's obviously a riddle. And it seems to imply that by figuring it out, you'll find their hiding place." He turned to Delia, "You know the guy. What do you think?"

Delia picked up the note, mouthing it out silently. She could feel both brothers looking at her, as she sat in the middle of them. "I don't think that us finding this was an accident at all."

Dean looked up, "What?"

She shrugged, "Tony knows me too well. He knows that the first thing I would do, would be to search the place. And his whole goal in this is to kill me. He only took John because he was losing." Delia put her head in her hands. "I think he left this there on purpose. He obviously wants me dead, right?" Both brothers nodded in agreement. "Ok then, why disappear completely? Of course he was going to leave me a clue to where he was going. So that I'd come looking for him. We'll just have to figure out what the riddle means."

They sat in silence for a long time, all thinking about the note carefully. Suddenly, Sam sat up and leaned forward earnestly. "Wait, I just had a thought." He pulled the laptop out of his bad and started up a search engine. "What if the politician's estate, is really part of the first clue not the second? Great Beehive Estate."

Delia leaned forward, eyes widening. "Or Beehive State. That would be Utah, right?"

Sam snapped his fingers. "Perfect!"

Dean looked up from the table, "The politician part is still bugging me. Maybe it could be a literal politician's residence. So maybe the capital?"

Sam nodded again, "Probably. What if politician estate had more than one meaning? Estate adds onto Beehive State. Politician implies the capital. But it could also be a former politician's house. I'm gonna check local house listings. Maybe the mayor's house went up for sale or something."

Waiting for Sam to find something, the silence became heavy and labored. Dean started making popping noises with his tongue to pass the time. Delia glowered at him; he grinned and made the noise even louder. Finally, she reached over and smacked him upside the head. "Stop that! That is the most irritating thing in the world!"

Sam smiled and his shoulder shook with half-suppress laughter. Dean rubbed his head, "Quit hitting me! It's not cool to treat your older brother that way. Besides, "he pouted a little, "it hurts. You hit pretty hard ya know." She grinned and tilted her head at him, looking very happy with herself.

Sam looked up, "Alright this might be something. Apparently, in Salt Lake City, there's a house that just sold for 15 million dollars. This says that it was first commission as a private residence for a local politician, but he had to abandon the project because he couldn't afford to finish it. So a private buyer finished the mansion and put it on the market. It sold 2 months ago to a private buyer."

Delia wrinkled her brow. "It definitely fits the clues. But what about the hill thing? Or the number six is the key part?"

Sam grinned again, and turned the computer toward them. "I might have the answer to that too. Look at the picture."

Delia gasped, and nodded furiously. Dean looked at the picture of the home, and smiled, "Of course! That house is built on the edge of a hill, that's one down. And there's, "he counted the columns outside the house silently in his head, "six columns out front."

Delia spoke up, "That has to be it. It fits all the clues. Well boys, it looks like we're going to Utah." She threw her arms around both of their shoulders and hugged them quickly. Adopting a very bad British accent, she spoke again. "Well gents, I saw we away to the car right quick. Not time for a cuppa today, I'm afraid." They all laughed and stood up. Their bill was paid, and they went back out to the car. All three climbed in, Dean deciding to take back the driving responsibilities. Pulling onto the freeway, headed north, they all silently contemplated what the future held. They could very well be walking to their own funerals, or to save John and kill the vampires. Only time would tell.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

The trunk of the Impala squeaked open, Dean and Sam leaned in. The midday sun was beating down on their backs. Dean looked over his shoulder at Delia, "Just normal vamp killing stuff? Are you sure? Shouldn't we bring out the big guns?"

She nodded, "Why wouldn't I be sure?"

He smirked. "Well, because the last one of Tony's vamps that we met; normal stuff kinda didn't work so well. He healed from a silver bullet to the chest in about ten seconds. So I'm just being cautious." He grabbed the holy water, a shotgun, a few pistols, and as much ammunition as he could hold.

Delia was standing a few feet away, strapping her knives to her wrists again. Sam looked at her, "I've been wondering why you had those last time. Silver is too soft of a metal to use as a good weapon, so they can't be pure silver. Which, against vamps, makes them pretty much useless?"

She smiled, and looked down at one of the blades. "I had these specially made. The guy mixes silver with the steel. I asked for as high a concentration of silver as he could get, while still maintaining its efficiency as a weapon. It's not as good as straight silver obviously, but it still works pretty well." Delia bent down, slipping a longer knife into her boot. Counting off with her fingers, she made a list of weapons. "Let's see, wrist knives, boot knife, two pistols in the shoulder holster, holy water in thigh pocket, and machete on back." Grasping, she ran back to the car and opened the door. She emerged with her cross necklace, and placed it around her neck again. "Can't forget this."

Dean scoffed, "I still don't think that will work. At least crosses have never worked for my dad, or me for that matter."

"Obviously you two aren't true believers, are you? Because this cross has saved my life a few times." Realizing that time was short, she waved Dean off when he opened his mouth to speak again. Lord, that man can never shut up! And he ate more than any other person she'd every known in her life. Delia began walking toward the giant mansion. They had elected to sneak in during the day, catching the vampires while they were asleep. Slaughter all of them, and have all the time in the world to find John and rescue him too. The three siblings walked up to the drive to the front door. Dean and Delia stood facing away from the door, keeping watch; while Sam knelt down to pick the lock.

A few minutes later, Dean turned around irritably. "What is the hold up Sammy? Forget how to pick a lock?" Sam sneered up at him and stepped back from the door. Dean reached down, jiggling the door handle. It creaked open instantly. "Geez, it's about time."

The entrance to the mansion was broader than they had expected. Two sets of stairs, one leading upward, the other leading down stood directly before them. Wide, endless hallways stretched forth on each side, a few more hallways were behind the staircase. Sam whispered to the other two. "We should split up. We'll cover more ground that way."

Delia nodded and walked toward the hallway on the left, "If either of you boys need saving, just holler." Both boys scoffed, she smiled to herself and began walking down the hall. There weren't that many rooms down this hallway, this would be a quick search. There were no windows down this way, it was utterly dark, maybe she should have thought of bringing a flashlight. She quietly opened the first door, looking in cautiously, gun drawn. It was clearly a bedroom, but it was an empty one at that. She quickly checked the closet and under the bed, to make sure she didn't miss anything. There was no one there; she walked back out leaving the door ajar. Room after room, and she came up with the same result. It didn't appear as though anyone was around, at least not in this wing of the house. Sighing, defeated, she turned back and headed back up the hall.

Distantly, Delia heard a faint sound from behind her. She paused, and listened closely. Yes, it was still there. A very quiet shuffling noise, someone must be following her. Quickly, she ducked into the nearest doorway and stood in the room silently. The shuffling came close, and soon she could hear quiet breathing to accompany it. The noise paused for a moment right outside the room she was hiding in. Suddenly, with a flurry of activity, someone came bursting through the door. She shrieked and aimed her gun at the shadowy figure's head. The figure growled, "Don't more, or I'll put a bullet right between your eyes."

She recognized that voice, and laughed in relief. "Dean?! God man, you scared the shit out of me!"

He sounded surprised, "Delia? Sorry about that. It got a little dark down here, so I was being cautious."

She walked out of the room and started back toward the main entrance. "Well, you knew I was down this hallway you idiot. You should have been more careful! You find any vamps?"

"Nope, not a one. You?"

"Nada." They both arrived back in the entrance hall and found Sam running down the stairs toward them.

He looked immensely relieved to see them both. "Oh, thank God! I heard someone scream. Are you two alright?"

Delia smiled at him, "We're fine. Except that moron boy over here nearly shot me…..in the head!" Sam's eyes widened and she mumbled under her breath, "Idiot."

Dean frowned at her, "First, I heard that idiocy runs in families. So I guess that I got the smallest portion." She stuck her tongue out at him and he grinned, continuing. "Second, I didn't nearly shoot you, I was being cautious. Anyway, Sam, you find any vamps?"

Sam shook his head, "Not a single one. What about you guys?"

Delia frowned even harder, "Nope, nothing. I didn't find a single thing to suggest that vamps have ever been here." Sitting on the edge of the stairs, she buried her face in her hands and was quiet for a long moment. "Maybe we interpreted the clues wrong. We should look again."

Dean took the note from his pocket and handed it to her. "Well, we best figure it out quick. The sun is going down fast. And I really don't want to run into their hideout when they're awake."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

"I think I figured out the problem." Delia finally said.

Dean wrinkled his brow. "Really? Cause I got nothing. Alright then, where did we screw up?"

She pointed to the end of the note. "Right here, with these last two lines. It says that six holds the key, not that six IS the key. So that probably means that the six connection would not be the actual hideout."

Sam nodded, "Well yeah, I guess that much is obvious now. Because they aren't here are they?"

She held up a hand before he could continue. "But it says to continue up the hill. We assumed that just meant the hill that this house was built on. What if it's talking about a house further up the hill, and that's the real hideout?"

Dean, who had been unusually quiet, spoke. "Sounds like its worth a shot. But things just got a little tougher." He pointed out the window. "The sun is almost down. The vamps will be awake in less than 30 minutes."

Delia looked out the window, "Damn it! They'll probably wake up right when we're halfway through slaughtering them." She walked off in a random direction, cursing thoroughly.

Sam looked over at her. "Cursing probably won't help much. We best get started; maybe some of them will be off hunting or something." Together, they walked to the back of the house and into the backyard. They should be able to see any other houses from there. Spotting one, Sam pointed, "That looks like its up the hill to me."

As they watched a light flickered on in one window, then another, and another. Dean was walking around the yard, seemingly aimlessly. He was brushing the tall grass out of his way, and looking suspiciously behind trees. Suddenly, his face broke into a grin and he turned to the others. "Bingo! There's a tunnel right here, looks like it heads up to the other house." Looking very smug he continued, "Can someone tell me what a genius I am now?" No one responded, "Aw, come on, you both know its true."

Delia rolled her eyes, grabbed a flashlight from Sam, and walked past Dean into the tunnel. She muttered under her breath, "Idiot!" She heard Sam laugh behind her and two sets of footsteps followed her lead. All of them had their guns drawn and were practically jumping around corners to avoid being ambushed.

Dean hollered from the back, "Does anyone have dead man's blood? Anyone at all? I completely forgot."

Delia turned on her heel, and got right up in his face. She whispered fiercely. "Do you think you could announce our arrival any more loudly? Dear God man, do you ever NOT ruin the element of surprise?' She reached into her pocket and threw a small bottle at him. "And yes, I brought dead man's blood. But the silver works better." She turned back around and continued up the path. It seemed that they had been walking for a long time; they should be getting close to the house.

Nearly without warning, the pathway opened. It branched off in three directions. Sam strode up even with Delia, sighing. "Well this is just excellent! Now what?"

Delia shushed him, "Give me a minute." She got very quiet and started taking very deep breaths, eyes closed. She faced one direction, still absolutely silent. A tiny rush of wind brushed up behind them.

Dean looked at her with shadows of concern and confusion on his face. He whispered to Sam, "What is she doing?" Sam shrugged; he also seemed to be at a loss for words.

Delia had turned again, facing in the second direction. The wind picked up a little, and she gasped, opening her eyes. She pointed down the tunnel she was facing, "This way."

Dean wrinkled his brow at her, "What did you do? And how do you know that's the right way?"

She grinned, "Haven't I told you? I think I already mentioned that I can sense a vampire's power. Well, ok, any power actually….vamps, ghosts, werewolves, hunters, you name it."

"How exactly do you do that?"

She shrugged, "No idea, just kind of started one day. But I can sense one living person down that way, well barely living. And at least five corpses. Probably vamps cause I can sense a lot of power coming from them." She drew her gun again, "Better be prepared boys, I think these are masters." Delia began walking down the hallway, looking back to see if they were following.

Dean followed her slowly, turning to Sam a bit, and said. "Hey, you think that this, well ability, she has is kinds like your visions? Some kind of power from the demon type thing."

Sam looked confused, pursing his lips. "Probably. She did say that it just started one day, like the visions did. Since we're kinda twins, and she was kidnapped by the demon, it would make sense." Delia stood about ten feet down the tunnel from them, and put a finger to her lips. She then pointed to the room that was a few feet ahead of her, and she held up three fingers. The boys nodded, coming down the hall to join her.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Keeping her voice to a low whisper, Delia announced the plan. She didn't seem to think that she should ask for opinions, of course, there was really no time for diplomacy. "Listen, I'll count off on my fingers. When I reach three we rush the door, I'll kick it in. Dean you take the left side, Sam you take the right. I'll handle anything right in front of us, or anything that comes in behind us. Got it?" They both nodded silently. She put a finger to her lips briefly, and then lifted one finger of her other hand. Dean and Sam drew their guns. "Oh, and one more thing, if you get into trouble with a vamp…use this" She tossed both of them several magazines of ammunition. "My own special creation."

She held up a second finger, and the boys braced themselves to rush into the room. Delia silently held up a third finer, brought her hand back to the trigger of her pistol and kicked the door with all her might. It buckles beneath her foot, half coming off the hinges. They filed into the room, trying to assess the situation. Five vampires stood in the room, and turned slowly as they entered. Dean looked to the left, and cursed, it looked like the vamps had been waiting for them. Gunshots began ringing through the room. Dean didn't have time to check on his brother and sister; he needed to focus on the vampires right in front of him. Two of them stalked toward him, lazy smiles playing across their lips. He smiled right back, and began shooting. The vamps stumbled a little with the force of the bullets. Blood soaked through their clothing, but still they kept coming.

He could still hear the sounds of a desperate struggle from behind him. Having a sudden thought, he ejected the magazine from his gun, and pulled another one from his pocket. He had no idea what the difference could be, but Delia had said that if the plain old silver plated bullets didn't work, try this. He slammed the magazine home, took aim and fired one shot straight into the chest of one of his assailants. The vampire suddenly shrieked and doubled over, clutching his chest. His companion looked at him and yelled, "What is it?" Smiling, Dean pulled a long knife from his boot. Well, it could have been a short sword really. Taking advantage of the vampires' momentary distraction, he swung it in a mighty arc. The vampire he had shot looked up, but had no time to react. Dean felt the knife slice through skin, a split second of resistance as it hit bone. Then the vampires' head rolled clear of its body, landing with a squelch on the floor.

The second vampire turned on him. She opened her mouth to reveal her fangs, and hissed at him. Slightly taken aback, he put the knife down and took back the comfort of his gun. He fired, but this vampire just laughed at him. She jumped toward him, slashing at him with her fingernails; except that they were more like claws now. Dean stepped back, but it wasn't far enough. Nails grazed his chest, and small amounts of blood blew through the air. He looked down and saw four jagged tears in his shirt, and blood was streaming in little rivers down his chest. Favoring his knife again, he dropped the gun. Unfortunately, she was quicker and she jumped at him again, knocking him to the ground. She had one hand around his throats and was straddling his legs. She stabbed at his stomach with her clawed hand, and he writhed in pain. She leaned close to his face and whispered, "You will die tonight. Maybe it would be more fitting for me to let you live long enough to see your siblings die first." Dean was frantically searching the ground for his dropped knife. She continued to dig at him with her claws, causing even more damage to his chest and stomach.

Suddenly, Dean felt something cold and metal under his fingers. Thanking God under his breath, he wrapped his hand around it. He thrust the knife into the vampire's chest, driving it upward toward her heart. Then she collapsed onto him, clearly dead, again. He rolled her off of him and stood, his legs wobbled a little underneath him. No more vampires rushed him, which he figured was a good sign. He looked around the room and couldn't see Sam or Delia. He wavered on the spot, and looked down at his injuries. Blood was pouring down his stomach, making its way down his legs. "Damn." He exclaimed, and pressed a hand firmly to his wounds. The vamp had nearly eviscerated him! He blinked rapidly to steady his vision, and scanned the room again. There were seven dead vampires, but still no sign of the others. He steadied himself and shouted, "Sam?! Delia?!" He listened for a minute but heard nothing. Fearing the worst, he stumbled out into the hall, still calling out their names.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Dean walked down the long hallway, called for Sam and Delia. Every twenty feet or so, he would fall against the wall, vision wavering. He would curse, and take a few deep breaths before continuing. Feeling weak, he fell into a nearby doorway. He hit the floor with a thud, and gasped. He stayed still for a few minutes, trying to gather some strength. Rolling to his knees, he looked around the room he had fallen into. It was a small, circular room, walls made of cared stone. It was rather brightly lit, and he could see several adjoining rooms. Looking through one door, he saw something interesting.

Dean pulled himself to his feet with all his strength. Taking a brief moment to check on his wounds, he realized that the bleeding had slowed considerably. Relieved, he sighed, he just might not die before morning. He walked as quickly as he could into the other room, and looked around again. It was clearly a dungeon, having several cells lining each side of the long room. He hollered for Sam and Delia once more, but still heard nothing. Looking in each cell, he neared the end of the room. One dungeon had a gate that stood slightly ajar, he casually glanced inside and gasped again, "Dad?!"

John was lying on the floor, clothes torn, dried blood and bruises covering every inch of visible skin. Forgetting his own pain, Dean threw himself to his knees next to his father. He wasn't breathing; Dean tried to shake him awake. "Dad! Come on. You can't die now." Dean pulled his father a little off the floor by his shirt, shaking him again. Tears appeared in the corners of his eyes as he felt for a pulse, and felt nothing, "We need you. You can't die on us now." Dean lowered his head, and tears started to stream down his cheeks. It just couldn't be true, John couldn't be dead.

Dean sat there for a long time, silently letting the tears roll down his face. Part of him refused to give up hope, and he continued shaking his father's body every few minutes. Finally, he looked down and realized that he was still bleeding; he needed to find the others. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve, 'I swear to god that I will make them pay." With that he took a deep breath and stood up. He walked to the doorway again, looking up briefly. Without warning, he law a large brick sailing through the air toward his head. There was no time to do anything, and he just stood there, eyes widening slightly with shock. As the brick hit home, he saw a bright flash of light in front of his eyes, and then he slumped into darkness.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

Sam dropped the brick he was wielding, hearing his target fall to the ground. Taking a breath of relief, he chanced a look around the corner. Looking at the floor, he saw his brother lying there, unconscious and bleeding. "Oh, damn!"

"What?" Delia came rushing around the corner. She glanced at Sam, then at Dean. "What the hell man? You knocked out your own brother!"

Sam sputtered, "I didn't realize it was him, I thought it was one of the vamps." He examined Dean, and cursed, "They really did a number on him, they practically eviscerated him. How did he get this far from that room? He probably needs a blood transfusion, might be time to get him to a hospital." Then he idly continued looking around the room, and spotted John's lifeless form. "No!" he said desperately, rushing to his father's side. "Dad!" He, like Dean, tried to shake him awake.

Delia knelt next to John as well, putting a hand on the side of his throat. "He's gone Sam." She put her arm around him, and he visibly crumbled a little, "I'm so sorry." She hugged him close to her as tears welled up in his eyes. Eyes a littler misty herself, she tried to force him to look at her. "Sam, listen to me. There's no time to fall apart right now. Look at Dean!" Sam looked over at Dean, a few tears spilling down his cheeks. "If he doesn't get to a doctor soon, he'll be dead next. Then you'll have lost all of your family."

Sam seemed to consider her words, glancing back and forth between Dean and John. "Well, all except you."

She waved his words away, "I do not count as your family. I don't count as anyone's family. Besides being blood related, we don't even know each other. But, please, let's get Dean out of here. Then we'll come back and take care of Tony, ok?"

A mumbled voice whispered across the room. "No hospitals!" It was Dean, and he was struggling to step up, holding his head. "The last one I ended up in, all the nurses were men! No thanks! Well ok, most of them were…maybe not all."

In spite of himself, Sam gave a short laugh. "Well you need some rest and stitches at the very least. Maybe a blood transfusion."

Dean looked at Delia, "You know how to sew? Cause I damn sure ain't letting Sammy near me with a needle." Grinning just a little, she nodded and he continued, "What do we do about…."he trailed off, gesturing toward John.

Delia nodded sympathetically. "I know that you don't want to hear it right now, but we shouldn't do anything with the body tonight. It will take too much time, and Tony will figure out that we're not dead real soon." When Sam and Dean began to protest, eyes misty again, she shushed them. "I mean it, listen to me. We have to come back tomorrow night and stake Tony and Meredith, we'll bury him then. But for now, we have to get out of here." Finally, they nodded and didn't protest any longer. "Thank God, as least you're listening to reason."

Sam walked over to Dean and helped him to his feet. Dean groaned and winced a little, leaning on Sam for support. Delia had a gun in her hands again, and walked ahead of them out of the room. They continued down the hall. All of them were on edge, Delia brandishing her pistol around every corner. But the entire place seemed quiet and empty. She furrowed her brow, "This is strange. It seems almost too easy, why did they suddenly all disappear?"

Dean stumbled and clutched at Sam, grimacing as he spoke, "Maybe Tony got scared and ran. You're a pretty scary chick ya know."

She grinned, "I'll take that as a compliment! It doesn't matter anyway, just an idle observation, let's get to the doctor." When Dean started to protest, she gave him a smug look. "I lied; I don't know how to sew. But it was such a sexist remark, and I was so happy that Sam didn't kill you, I didn't argue. And, we're going to the hospital, even if I have to hold you at gunpoint the whole way." They all fell silent, and remained that way for a very long time.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two

For the second time in a week, Dean was sitting in a hospital bed, dressed with the accompanying gown. He watched the blonde, blue-eyed nurse stitch up his stomach. She looked up at him and he gave her his very best grin. After a few hours and two blood transfusions he was feeling more like himself. She raised an eyebrow, "So what exactly happened?"

"Uh….long story. And you wouldn't believe me even if I told you." He grinned spectacularly again.

A knock sounded at the door, and they both looked up as Sam entered the room. "All better yet?" The nurse turned back to Dean, and concentrated on the stitching.

Dean wiggled his eyebrows, "Nearly. Course what can I say? She's really good!" He nudged Sam a little as he stood next to the bed, "And can I say that this is much better than the last hospital you chose."

Delia's voice came from the door, "Speak for yourself, I didn't mind the last hospital at all." She sat on the other side of the bed. The burse reached to her tray and grabbed an ointment bottle. Dean winced as she put some of the ointment over the stitches. Delia laughed shortly, "Wuss!"

He smirked at her, "Ha! Just trying for some sympathy."

Delia laughed again, "Yeah and how's that going for you? Do you need a hug?"

He winced again. "Scary thought. Hasn't it been a bad enough night….especially with…" He trailed off and looked down at his lap. They all sat in silence for a while, waiting for a little privacy. The nurse put the finishing touches on his bandages, and he tried for a smile again. "So, when can I get out of here?"

She stood, gathering her things. "The doctor would like to keep you for at least 24 hours. You lost a lot of blood, and that's concerning. You'll be released tomorrow night, or maybe the next morning."

He nodded and she left the room. Delia cleared her throat a little, "Guys listen….I'm, uh…"

Sam held up a hand. "Please, it's okay. We know, but I'd really prefer not to talk about it." His eyes became a little misty again. "Let's let Dean get some sleep, we have some ass to kick tomorrow." None of them spoke again, sitting there in silence. Absorbed in their own thoughts, thinking about the next step. Tony would get what was coming to him, if only they could find him. Eventually, Dean drifted to sleep, his brother and sister keeping watch. The two of them dozed on and off for the majority of the night, none of them sleeping very well.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Three

The sun had set again, and Dean was arguing with the doctor. "Listen, doc, I feel great. I need to go, please."

The doctor shook his head. "Son, you might need another blood transfusion. It would be irresponsible for me to release you at this point."

"Please, you don't understand. We just lost our father….and…." Dean shook his head to clear the tears that had suddenly appeared in the corner of his eyes.

"I do understand, and I'm very sorry. But you still need to be monitored; we'll release you in the morning."

Sighing heavily, Dean leaned back in the bed. The doctor started toward the door, and Dean called him again. "One last thing doc. When is your shift over?" He gave his best innocent face.

The doctor laughed a little bit, "I leave at ten. But, son, I'm planning on telling the next shift that you're not to be released."

Giving his best unassuming angel look, Dean looked convincingly shocked. "Now why would you think that I'd be considering something like that?! Just call it an idle curiosity." Shaking his head and laughing, the doctor left the room and Sam and Delia entered. Dean rolled his eyes at the doorway, "Idiot! Doesn't seem to want me to leave. But his shift is over at ten, so I'm betting that we can sneak out then."

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Ok, sure. You really think that's a good idea?" Dean nodded, and Sam continued, "Alright, then what do we do until ten?"

Delia spoke up, "I'll go get everything ready to go vamp hunting. You guys sit here and look irritated whenever the doctor walks by. They won't suspect a thing." She stood and left the room, grabbing the Impala keys on her way out. Sam and Dean waited, staring at the clock from time to time. They glared at the doctor every time he passed by.

Around seven, Sam felt his eyes growing heavy. The lack of sleep from the last few days was catching up with him. He drifted off to sleep, and Dean threw him a dirty look. "Sure, everyone can sleep except me around here." Dean stared blankly at the wall for a moment, then getting bored, decided to bother the nurse. He smiled and reached for the call button. He pressed it, and waited for a response. After a minute or two, when nothing happened, he pressed the button again. Still no one came to respond, he became suspicious. He shook Sam awake, "Dude, can you go check if this nurse button is working? I've pressed it three times and nothing is happening."

Sam mumbled something, and then looked at Dean. "Why do you need a nurse?" He sighed and stood, "Never mind, I'll go look." He poked his head out into the hall, looked one way, then the other. With a puzzled look back at Dean he walked into the hallway and disappeared from view. He returned a few minutes later, "That is really weird. There is nobody out in that hallway. Not a doctor or nurse in sight, not even any patients."

Dean wrinkled his eyebrows, "That's strange. And by the way, where's Delia?"

Sam shrugged and sat back down. He started to doze again, Dean glanced at the clock. Delia had been gone for a long time, what could she be doing? As Dean's eyes started to close as well, he heard a scuffle near the door and opened his eyes. The room has suddenly gone dark, all the lights extinguished. He whipped his head toward the door, and saw Sam with his hands on top of his head, a gun pointed at the back of his skull. "What the…" Dean started.

A vampire stuck her head around Sam and hissed at him, "Don't move a muscle! I'd prefer to leave you two alive, but I'm not that picky about it. Where's the girl?"

Sam scoffed, "You think we'd actually tell you that!" He flinched as she cuffed him on the back of the head. "Seeing as how you guys killed our dad, we're not in much of a helpful mood."

The vampire laughed derisively, "Well, seeing as how I have the gun pointed at your head, I'd think yo…" she stopped abruptly, and slumped to the ground.

Sam whipped around, ready to attack anything that moved. He made a fist, stalking toward the dark doorway. The entire hospital seemed to have been plunged into darkness. Seeing a shadowy figure, he grabbed the new person by the throat and shoved them to the wall. A short laughed came from his captive, "God, slow down there Rambo! You gonna strangle your own baby sister?" Shocked, Sam released Delia and she stepped to the vampire's limp form, holding her throat. Surveying the body, Sam saw an arrow shaft protruding from the vamp's back. "Man, I love my crossbow! I never miss, and those silver tipped arrow are just the ticket!" With another quick grin Delia walked over to Dean, who had extracted himself from the bed and had hurriedly put his own clothing back on. She shoved a pistol into his hands, "Can you walk?"

He nodded, and then spoke. "What's going on anyway?"

Her smile disappeared and she lowered her gaze. "The vamps took over this whole floor of the hospital. I saw them come in and kill the lights so I hid out in the staff room for a while. There's at least ten of them, including Tony and Meredith." She threw another pistol to Sam, and handed some bullets to both of them. "Here, more of my super ammo for you."

Dean took some of the ammunition she was holding out, and examined it closely. "I've been meaning to ask you, what exactly are these? They really did a number on the last vamp I used it on."

She grinned deviously, "My own special homemade ammo. Its silver plated of course. But, it's a hollow point. A hollow point that I filled with holy water and silver shards. Basically the bullet hit the vamp, and about halfway through em explodes, and fills their guts with holy water and silver."

Dean's jaw dropped a little. "That's ingenious. A little scary and sadistic, but ingenious." Dean loaded the bullets into his pistol and nodded his readiness. Sam acknowledged that he was ready also, and Delia motioned for the door. She pointed at Dean and pointed right; she pointed at Sam and motioned left. They both nodded their understanding. She whispered to them, "Be prepared for the fight of your lives boys."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty Four

All three Winchester children burst through the doorway, ready to start shooting at anything that moved. To their surprise, the hallway was empty once more. Dean walked down the hall, rushing into several rooms. He emerged from the fifth door and shrugged at the other two, "Where the hell did they all go?"

Delia looked around pensively, "I don't know. This doesn't seem right. Why storm the place, have a vamp find you two, then leave?"

Sam shrugged as well, "No idea. But I say we count it as a blessing and get out of here now." The others nodded and they walked toward the front entrance of the darkened hospital. Delia was walking backward, keeping an eye on all of their backs. She felt a cool breeze on her back as they walked outside. She heard Sam say, "Oh shit!" Whipping around she saw the vamps surrounding them, in seconds they had formed a complete circle around them.

She grimaced, realizing their odds. "Like I said boys, the fight of your lives." With that, she brought the crossbow into her grip, loaded an arrow and aimed. The crossbow snapped and the arrow flew threw the air. Her very first shot was true, striking the vampire down instantly. There was no time to check on Sam and Dean; she merely had to trust that they could handle themselves. The vampires swarmed her, effectively ruining the crossbow's usefulness. She pulled a long blade from her boot instead, and launched herself at the first vamp she saw. In one might swing, she pushed the blade up into the chest, toward the heart, and heard the vampire hiss as the knife hit home. Another vampire pummeled her in the back of the head, and she stumbled to her knees. The second vampire jumped on her, and she brought the blade under her arm and straight into the vamp's chest. Another true shot!

Three vamps down for her, and with plenty more to go a female vamp jumped at her next. She was a little caught off guard and fell backward. Her blade left her hand, and she cursed loudly. The female vamp clawed at her face with her nails, creating bloody scratches along both cheeks and down Delia's neck. Delia reached one hand to her neck, grabbed her cross and shoved it into the vamp's face. The smell of singing flesh filled Delia's nostrils, and smoked poured from around the cross. The vampire jerked back, a large cross shaped burn across her cheek. Smiling in satisfaction Delia spoke, "Thanks for the close up! Now I know how truly pathetic your powers really are." Confidently, she pulled her pistol from behind her back and fired once, right between the vampire's eyes. The vamp fell to the ground, Delia whipping around; looking for her next opponent.

Delia didn't see any other vampires at first, so she looked for her brothers instead. Sam was watching his last vamp slump to the ground; Dean was still struggling with two particularly nasty vamps. She started to run toward him to assist, and was stopped by a sudden cool breeze from behind her. A power tore through her so forcefully that she doubled over and dropped to her knees. When she had regained her composure, she leapt to her feet and turned on her heel. Tony was standing behind her, Meredith on his arm. Her lip curled, and she shouted behind her, "We got company boys!" Meredith broke away from Tony, headed for the brothers.

Delia was torn, who should she help? Deciding that the two of them should be enough to handle Meredith, she turned her attention to Tony. He bowed a little to her and smiled, "So, it's come to this. You and me. But, I wonder…"he looked behind her, "Do you really think those two boys can handle my Meredith? She did fool you after all; even you couldn't sense her powers."

Delia smirked, locating her knife and picking it back up, "She's good, I'll admit it. But they're better. Now back to business, I think it's about time you died properly Tony." She swung the knife around and steadied herself for his attack. He sprung at her, and hit her with the force of a train. She barely had time to throw the knife in front of her in defense. He stopped just short of her face, blade digging into his skin. When he flinched slightly, Delia laughed, "See Tony, all this effort and you're still going to lose. You're not a master; in fact, by vamp standards you're positively puny." Snarling, he swung himself around behind her in a flash, knocking her to the ground before she could react. He jumped on her back, yanking her head back by the hair. She yelped, and looked for her brothers out of the corner of her eye; they were both still busy with Meredith. This was going to be a long fight, and no matter what she had said, she was very uncertain that they would live to see sunrise.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty Five

Meredith stalked toward the boys. Dean had only just dispatched his last vamp, and Sam walked over to join him. Sam holding a pistol, Dean with a machete in hand, they turned to face her. She gave a small smile, and purred, "Oh, you boys should be just as much fun to play with as your father."

Dean glanced over her shoulder and saw Delia lying on her stomach, Tony yanking her hair. He started for her and Sam put an arm on his shoulder, shaking his head. Dean looked straight at Meredith, "Alright then." He pointed the machete at her, "You killed my father…..prepare to die bitch!" He laughed, like he had said something funny and looked around expectantly. When no one else laughed he sighed, "That's from The Princess Bride morons! Only one of the funniest movies ever. Although, I did improvise the bitch part." With that said, he rushed her, knife swinging wildly. She threw an arm up, catching Dean in the chest. She thrust him to the side, Sam fired at her once. She turned on him, blood blossoming from her shoulder. She leapt at him, clawing the air violently. Meredith hit Sam, knocking them both to the ground. She straddled his chest and clawed at him furiously. Blood ran from slices to his face and chest.

Seeing an opportunity, Dean grabbed the machete again, running for Meredith. In one mighty swing, he brought it down against her neck. Her now headless body slumped forward onto Sam, and he yelled, "Oh gee, thanks!" He shoved the vampire's body away from him, her blood now mingling with his own. They heard a shout from behind them, and turned.

Tony had looked up from Delia just in time to see his beloved Meredith die. Taking advantage of his distraction, Delia brought her elbow back into his face. While he was recovering, she turned over, grabbed her knife. She thrust it into his chest, and his eyes went wide with surprise. She leaned up enough to whisper, "This is for John, asshole!" Then with a flick of her wrist, the knife found Tony's heart. His now lifeless body fell backward, and she pulled herself to her feet.

She walked over to her brothers and threw her arms around both of them. They stood there looking uncomfortable for a moment, then hugger her back. When she finally pulled back, a faint mist of tears trickled down her cheeks. Irritated, she brushed them away and smiled at them. "Everyone ok? Nobody needs a doctor again do they?"

Sam laughed, "I'm cut up, but I think I'll survive. What about you Dean? You feeling ok?"

Dean shrugged, "Better all the time. Kicking demon ass always brightens my mood."

Sam clapped him on the shoulder and smiled, "We hadn't noticed. But it was great to kill her…especially after…" he trailed off and looked away.

Delia looked down at her feet. "Well, guys what do you say we go give John a proper goodbye?" They both nodded silently, and turned toward the car. As they climbed in, she said, "There might even be a few more vamps hanging around that you could kill." They pulled off into the night, headed back for the vampire's hideout.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty Six

The funeral fire burned bright against the night sky. The three Winchester children stood silently. Nothing needed to be said, they were all feeling the loss. Tears flowed down all three faces, as the smoke wafted over them. They stayed, watching, until the fire has burned down to embers. Even then, no one seemed to want to move or speak. Justice had been served, but it could never bring John back. Finally, Delia wiped her eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry dad. I'm sorry that I didn't believe you." Then she dissolved into tears again, and clung to Sam's shoulder.

Dawn was approaching before any of them had any inclination to leave. The crying has long since ceased. A person can only cry for so long before the grief becomes too much for even that small gesture. Tentatively, Sam spoke, "I think it's about time that we got out of here."

Dean nodded, and Delia pulled away from him. She tried to grin, eyes still red. "You know I heard about this great gig in Colorado. It's a paying job and everything."

Dean looked shocked. "Are you actually suggesting that we work together, as a team?"

She punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Well sport, someone has to make sure you two don't get yourselves killed." She grabbed the Impala's keys from him, and headed for the car. Maybe working with these two wouldn't be so bad. In fact, they were beginning to grow on her. And since they had just lost John, she felt that she owed it to them to at least give it a shot. Most likely they would drive each other crazy and she would take off on her own again eventually. But you never know, and besides she needed to stick around and give Sam a hand. His visions were nothing to quibble about, although he had no idea that she knew. He could have guessed though, it was her gift after all, sensing other's powers. And both boys knew that. So she had known about his powers immediately, but didn't want to say anything just yet. She could probably help him figure out some things. The Impala pulled away from John's makeshift funeral with the three Winchesters chatting a little solemnly, headed toward whatever destiny awaited them. The End!

**A/N:** Thank you all so very much for taking the time to read this story. If you enjoyed it, please review it for me (it's the only way I know how I'm doing). Also, I want to know if you'd like to see another story in the series, so please let me know.


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